I am the most at-ease and relaxed version of myself when I am in the company of witches and Pagans; and am truly grateful when presented with the honor of performing a ritual, ceremony or Rite of Passage for these peers.
So, when I was asked to perform a Wiccaning for a mixed audience of Pagan and non-Pagan people for the first time, I felt a flicker of fear.
The thought of having to “change” my way of performing this Rite for the comfort of others called up old, unsettling feelings that I’ve worked hard to release. I’ve grown quite comfortable living authentically and am not willing to retreat to old patterns of hiding or denying my truth.
I put my concerns aside as I listened to what the parents wanted in their ceremony. They wanted to honor their own spiritual process while remaining sensitive to the differing practices of family and friends attending.
The flicker of fear faded nearly as fast as it arose because I found it was actually pretty easy to make adjustments while remaining fully authentic to myself and the Rite.
I was able to make a few minor modifications so that everyone could comfortably participate. Here are a couple of examples:
- In order to cast a sacred circle at the beginning of the ceremony, I asked everyone to join hands and bring their attention to love for the child because you don’t need to be Pagan to hold hands and extend love!
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I chose to include the magick of a witch’s cord. When it came to time to make the cord, I had everyone string a bead on the cord to represent their blessing, or wish, for the child and I simply called it a blessing cord.
Through small substitutions of words and actions like these, everyone was able to actively engage in the ritual without changing the intention or result of it one bit.
The lesson for me in this experience was that I can wear my witch’s hat visibly and invisibly with equal grace. I felt as blessed as that sweet child that day!